Cleaning device of the releasable swab type



Oct. 23, 1951 R. c. MONROE ET AL CLEANING DEVICE OF THE RELEASABLE SWABTYPE Filed Nov. 27, 1946 mmvroas Zamlse Y 1% ('lemrn/ ifaerl (3 MonroePatented Oct. 23, 1951 OFFICE CLEANING DEVICE OF THE RELEASABLE SWABTYPE Robert 0. Monroe and Louise Y. McClement, New York, N. Y.

Application November 27, 1946, Serial No. 712,470

2 Claims.

The present invention relates to cleaning devices and more particularlya cleaning device of the swab or mop type.

Numerous articles or devices are being manufactured and sold for thepurpose of lightening the many tasks of a housewife, such as new ornovel window cleaners, polishing cloths, dusting papers, et cetera. Onetask which is still objectionable however, is that of cleaning a toiletbowl, which is still performed by using an ordinary type of brush. Afterbeing used the brush must be washed and dried and put aside for futureuse; such does not approach a criterion in so far as optimum sanitaryprocedures are concerned. The average housewife would prefer to use abrush once and then discard it, using a new brush on each occasion, butsuch is impracticable due to the expense involved.

The present invention aims to overcome the above and other difficultiesor objections by providing a new and improved device adapted to be usedfor cleaning toilet bowls having a single-use swab or brush portionwhich may be readily discarded after being used. The invention furthercontemplates the provision of a new and improved holder for a cleaningmember such as a swab or mop.

An object of the present invention is to pro vide a new and improvedcleaning device.

Another object of the invention is to provide a new and improvedcleaning device having a readily detachable swab part.

Another object is to provide a new and improved cleaning device having aswab portion which may be released from a relatively remote location.

Other and further objects of the invention will be obvious upon anunderstanding of the illustrative embodiment about to be described, orwill be indicated in the appended claims, and various advantages notreferred to herein will occur to one skilled in the art upon employmentof the invention in practice.

A preferred embodiment of the invention has been chosen for purposes ofillustration and description and is shown in the accompanying drawings,forming a part of the specification, wherein:

Fig. 1 is a perspective view showing the present cleaning device in use;

Fig. 2 is a view showing more particularly the swab holder or handleportion of the device illustrated in Fig. 1;

Fig. 3 is a longitudinal sectional view showing the cleaning device witha swab in position;

Fig. 4 is a longitudinal sectional view showing the swab retainingdevice in a different position;

Fig. 5 is a longitudinal sectional view taken along the line 55 of Fig.4; and

Fig. 6 is an enlarged fragmentary view showing a modified form of thepresent invention.

Referring more particularly to Fig. 1 a preferred embodiment of thepresent cleaning device is shown in use. The cleaning device comprises aswab, mop, or other suitable scrubbing portion I retained adjacent oneend of an elongated holder or handle portion 2; in Fig. 3 there is showna cross section through the cleaning device with the swab I held inposition at one end of the handle portion 2. The elongated handle 2 isadapted to securely retain the swab at all times and is also ofsuch-nature that the swab may be readily released or removed from thehandle portion with out the necessity of touching it with the hands.

As shown in Fig. 3 the swab l is retained or clamped in position betweenoppositely disposed jaws or flexible clamping portions 4 and 5 of anouter substantially tubular member 1. The jaws 4 and 5 are of suchconstruction that their normal tendency is to separate or spread apartfrom each other. In Figs. 2 and 3 the jaws are shown held inwardlyagainst'the end or neck portion 8 of a swab I by a sleeve, ring, or bandmember Ill which extends about the elongated tubular member I. When thesleeve I0 is moved away from the jaws 4 and 5, to some such position asshown in Fig. 2, the jaws 4 and 5 may spread apart, due to the inherentflexibility of the material from which the tubular member 1 is formed.

When the jaws 4 and 5 are spread apart or separated from each other theend portion 3 of a mop may be readily inserted into the space or openingintermediate the jaw. When the swab has thus been inserted between thejaws the band or sleeve member It may be pressed downwardly over theexterior surfaces of the jaws and 5 to press or urge them inwardly intofirm engagement with a neck portion 8 of the swab. The normal frictionalengagement between the interior surface of the sleeve I0 and theexterior surfaces of the jaws v l and 5 is generally sufficient toretain the sleeve in the forward swab-holding relationship such as isillustrated in Figs. 1 and 3. If desired, the exterior surfaces of thejaws and the interior surface of the sleeve l0 could be suitablyroughened or knurled to increase the holding engagement between theseparts.

While the tubular member I has been shown with the jaws 4 and 5 formedintegrally therewith it will be clear that the jaws could be formed froma separate member or members and attached to the tubular member 1 by anysuitable securing means.

It has been found that utilizing a tubular member made from somecommercially available plastic material gives satisfactory results inactual practice. Such materials are easily formed, and the jaws 4 and 5may be provided by slitting the end of the tubular member 1 andspreading the resulting jaws 4 and 5 apart, preferably while beingheated. When the heat is removed and the jaws of the tubular member coolto room temperature the normal tendency for the jaws is to remain spreadapart in some position such as is shown in Figs. 2 and 4. The forked orbifurcated portion formed by the jaws 4 and 5 facilitates insertion of amop I and secure clamping thereof upon movement of the sleeve l8 overthe jaws to force them inwardly against the mop. It will be understoodthat any suitable metal, such as aluminum, may be used in themanufacture of the present cleaning device.

Adjacent each end of the tubular member 1 there are preferably providedoutwardly extending projections H and i 2 which are adapted to preventseparation of the sleeve ill from the tubular member I. The sleeve I maybe first fitted over the tubular member and the projections H and I2formed subsequently, or the projections l i and 12 may be first formedand then an enlarged but shrinkable sleeve placed over the tubularmember so that upon shrinking of the sleeve it will be of such size asto freely slide to and fro over the tubular member and yet be retainedthereon by the end projections I l and 12.. It is also feasible toconstruct the sleeve of complementary halves and to secure them togetherby using a suitable cement or solvent material.

With the swab portion l thus retained in position by the tubular member1 the device may be used for cleaning purposes in the usual manner. Uponcompletion of a particular cleaning task the swab may be removed fromthe tubular holder 1 by means of an elongated member I4 preferablydisposed interiorly of the tubular member I. This inner rod I4 is ofsuch diameter or outer dimension that it is adapted to be freely movableto and fro in a longitudinal direction with respect to the outer tubularmember T; it may be retained in assembled relationship within thetubular member I by enlargements, projections or stop portions IE and I7formed adjacent opposite ends of the inner rod IA.

The enlarged portion IS on the inner rod l4 adjacent the jaws 4 and ofthe tubular member 1 is adapted to contact a shoulder portion i9 withinthe tubular member I to prevent withdrawal of the inner rod I 4 from theupper or right end of the tube. The shoulder ll located adjacent theupper end of the inner rod 14 is adapted to contact a shoulder or endportion 20 on the tubular member 1 upon movement of the inner rod towardthe lower or left end of the tubular member.

During cleaning operations the inner rod member M will normally belocated adjacent the upper end of the tubular member I, as illustratedin Fig. 3. Upon completion of the particular cleaning task the handleportion 22 of the rod [4 may be pressed toward the tubular member I sothat the end 23 of the inner rod comes into contact with the end portion25 of the mop I. When the user grips the tubular member 1 with one handand presses the inner rod firmly forwardly against the mop, the mop willbe re leased or ejected from between the clamping means or jaws 4 and 5of the tubular member 1. In Fig. 4 the inner rod or ejecting member I4is shown in its fully forward ejecting position, with the enlargedportion ll adjacent the other end resting against the shoulder 28 of thetubular member, the swab or mop having been ejected from between thejaws 4 and 5 and the sleeve l0 moved away from the jaws.

Preferably the swab portion I is manufactured from specially preparedpaper filler material which is soluble or which disintegrates afterbeing soaked in water for a relatively short period of time. The swab,of course, does not disintegrate immediately upon coming into contactwith water but retains its cleaning characteristics for an ample periodof time to complete the usual cleaning task. With this type of swab ormop, the swab may be ejected by the ejecting rod I 4 from a remotelocation, upon completion of the cleaning task, and flushed away withoutdan er of clogging any plumbing fixtures or conduits. A new sanitaryfiller may be inserted between the retaining jaws 4 and 5 for eachdifferent cleaning task. The complete e ecting or releasing action maybe accomplished without touching the swab or without soiling the handsin any way and it is not necessary to wash the swab, dry it, and retainit for future use.

While the present device has been shown with only two jaws adjacent theend of the tubular member 1 it will be clear that any suitable num-- berof jaws may be used, for example three, four or five .iaws.

In Fig. 6 there is illustrated a modified form of the invention whereinan inner rod member I 45; is retained within the outer substantiallytubular member Ia by means of a co-operating' pin and slot construction.The slot 28 of the outer member 7a has projecting therethrough a pin orprotuberance 29, which is carried by the inner member I la. The ends 30and 3! of the slot 28 act as stops for limiting the extent of the to andfro longitudinal movement of the inner rod with respect to the outertubular member, and thus prevent separation of the two parts. The pin orprotuberance 29 of the inner rod Ma may be provided by placing a pininto an aperture or hole within the inner rod and securing it I theretoby means of a suitable solvent or cement.

ber extending around said tubular member and.

It will be seen that the present invention err vides a new and improvedcleaning device from which a soiled swab or mop may be readily ejectedwithout soiling the hands of a user. The swab or mop portion readilydisintegrates after being soaked in water for a suificient andrelatively short time and hence may be flushed away after use. While thepresent cleaning device has been shown and described chiefly for use inconnection with the cleansing of toilet bowls it will be clear that itsuse is not limited to this field but that it may be utilized forcleaning purposes generally.

As various changes may be made in the form, construction and arrangementof the parts herein without departing from the spirit and scope of theinvention and without sacrificing any of its advantages, it is to beunderstood that all matter herein is to be interpreted as illustrativeand not. in a limiting sense.

Having thus described our invention, we claim l. A swab holding deviceof the class described comprising a tubular member having a plural-' ityof integral and outwardly flaring resilient jaws adjacent one endthereof, an annular memslidable over said jaws for moving them towardeach other to grip a portion of a swab, means projecting outwardly fromthe tubular member at spaced locations for retaining said annular memberthereon at all times, a longitudinally movable rod member within saidtubular member adapted to be moved toward said jaws'to forcibly eject aswab while the swab is gripped by said jaws, cooperating transverselyextending shoulders on the tubular and rod members for preventingremovalof the rod member from the tubular member upon movement of the former ina direction away from said jaws, additional cooperating transverselyextending shoulders on the tubular and rod members for limiting theextent of movement of said rod member toward said jaws, and an elongatedrod portion projecting a substantial distance outwardly from saidadditional transversely extending shoulder of the rod member anddisposed exteriorly of said tubular member at all times.

2. A device as claimed in claim 1, in which said shouldersof the tubularmember comprise oppositely disposed end walls of a longitudinallyextending slot in the tubular member, and in 25 which said shoulders orthe rod member comprise oppositely disposed surface portions of aprojection carried by the rod and extending into said slot.

ROBERT C. MONROE. LOUISE Y. McCLEMENT.

REFERENCES CITED The following references are of record in the 10 fileof this patent:

UNITED STATES PATENTS Number Name Date 29,566 Bruel Aug. 14, 1860409,674 Fairfield et a1. Aug. 27, 1889 696,125 Whitaker Mar. 25, 1902929,860 Keith Aug. 3, 1909 940,519 Eastman Nov. 16, 1909 1,047,703Rapson Dec. 17, 1912 20 1,419,140 j Hutchinson June 13, 1922 1,794,221Washburn et a1. Feb. 24, 1931 FOREIGN PATENTS Number Country Date395,472 France Dec. 29, 1908 531,617 France Oct. 27, 1921

